Nintendo is working on Wii 2 but worried others will "copy" it

Next Nintendo console will be under-wraps for a while due to patent concerns

Development for the Wii 2 is definitely underway, but it might be quite a while before any details are spilled because Nintendo is worried that other companies might copy its ideas. In a conference with investors, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed, "We are of course studying and developing the next console to Wii... However, there is a big difference between studying a product and announcing what it is and when we will release it."

Iwata noted that, just like the Wii did, the next Nintendo platform will "positively surprise people." We can only hope he's talking about a glasses-free 3D home console, a system capable of using the successor to thePower Glove, or anything that usesSmell-O-Vision. We%26rsquo;re actually only half kidding.

Above: If it takes Sony and Microsoft as long to copy Wii 2 as it did for them to clone motion control, what is there to worry about?

Iwata's scoff that Nintendo is "of course" working on a new console doesn%26rsquo;t necessarily confirm that the Wii is on the path to obsolescence much more quickly than the 360 or PS3. Neither Microsoft nor Sony has said anything about a successor to their respective systems, but we guarantee there are plans being made in secret underground bunkers filled with marketing analysts and engineers. And probably pie, to keep everyone cheerful.

Iwata went on to take a slight jab at Nintendo's competitors, noting, "I am afraid to say that the history of entertainment is also the history of imitation. A great idea will promptly be copied unless protected through patents," adding that the company will "disclose information on our products as late as possible."

We smell a sense of scorn there. Perhaps Nintendo realizes it didn't do enough with its Wii patents to prevent devices like the Kinect or the Move from stealing its thunder. Then again, it still has a four-year head start on Move and Kinect and is the market leader %26ndash; if the competition is that sluggish, should you even care?

But while we%26rsquo;re on the subject of stealing ideas, Nintendo, could we make a couple suggestions of things Wii 2 could borrow from its current competitors? We%26rsquo;d like true HD video, an online system that doesn't restrict everyone as though it's a slave camp, and a built-in hard drive that has actual capacity. Whatever you want to do beyond that is fine by us.